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Author
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Comment
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Snowangel6284
Registered User
(10/5/04 8:15 pm)
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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST HELP
Im doing a research paper on beauty and the beast and how the story can be changed by being told from different narrators. I have C.S. Lewis's "Till we have faces" as told from Beauty's sisters point of view. Besides that i am also looking for one told from the beasts point of view, beautys and any others. Does anyone have any suggestions on books, and things i can write about. Please let me know. Thank you
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AliceCEB
Registered User
(10/5/04 8:55 pm)
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Re: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST HELP
Beast by Donna Jo
Napoli is written from the Beast's perspective.
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Ailanna
Registered User
(10/6/04 5:28 pm)
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Robin McKinley, etc.
I imagine you've already come across Robin McKinley's Beauty, and her second retelling, Rose Daughter, but I thought I'd give them a mention anyway. They're both from Beauty's point of view, but the resulting narratives are quite different.
Also, there's Mercedes Lackey's Fire Rose, which is also mostly from the female protagonist's point of view. But the narration, if I remember correctly, is not limited to one character's, and that of course would invalidate the point of your study.
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AliceCEB
Registered User
(10/7/04 9:18 am)
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Also...
"The Courtship of Mr. Lyon" and "The Tiger's Bride"
in Angela Carter's The Bloody
Chamber are two very distinct versions of the story, told
from Beauty's point of view.
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(10/7/04 9:48 am)
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Re: Also...
Umm, I hope you have seen the list of interpretations on SurLaLune at:
www.surlalunefairytales.c...hemes.html
These titles are there with full bibliographic info and more...
Heidi
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crs
Unregistered User
(10/7/04 1:06 pm)
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Till We Have Faces?
Am I just displaying my ignorance? I also have a copy of Lewis' _Till We Have Faces_, but that's a retelling of the "Cupid and Psyche" myth. I can see how that fits in to the French "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale, but does it really count as a retelling? Just confused.
--Cassia
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Veronica
Schanoes
Registered User
(10/7/04 2:29 pm)
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Re: Till We Have Faces?
It's my understanding that the B&B tale is intimately related to the Cupid and Psyche legend, as is East of the Sun and West of the Moon, as they both tell of a love affair almost destroyed when the woman is tempted by her family to betray her lover in some way either by forgetting about him (B&B) or by shedding light on him (C&P). I think in some versions of C&P P's sisters suggest that her lover might be a monster.
Does that make sense or am I misremembering?
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Erica
Carlson
Registered User
(10/7/04 5:07 pm)
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Re: Till We Have Faces?
Yes, Beauty and the Beast, East o' the Sun, and Cupid and Psyche are all related (Aarne Thompson type 425 and subcategories thereof, I think?).
I'm drawing a blank about versions with different (non-Beauty) narrators,
but for non-fiction, I would recommend Betsy Hearne's Beauty
and the Beast: Visions and Revisions of an Old Tale. She works
with versions of the tale from 1740 to 1985 and gives some excellent
background.
Best of luck,
Erica
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redtriskell
Registered User
(10/7/04 11:05 pm)
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beautiful and beastly
Tanith Lee has numerous retellings of the B&B story in several of her short story collections. Some are told from Beauty's perspective and some are from the Beast's POV. Of course, I don't have all of her stuff in front of me, but I seem to recall a rather vivid B&B in her "Red as Blood: Tales from the Sisters Grimmer" Happy hunting.
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Colleen
Unregistered User
(10/8/04 11:10 am)
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Another One -
Beauty by Susan Wilson. It's told from Beast's point of view. I personally hate this book, though, and wouldn't recommend it except that it's from the POV you're looking for. I enjoyed it up till the last chapter, then the author trashed it. One can't really call it a fairy-tale retelling, even though that's how it was sold, because fairy tales, for the most part, end well and when they don't they're at least satisfying. This ended horribly and wasn't the least bit satisfying. (Though I have to say it made an impression since four years after reading it I can remember how appalled I was when I finished it and how much I hated it.)
Colleen
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Mary
Unregistered User
(10/11/04 4:49 am)
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Another one
There's a contemporary novel called Sleeping Beauties by Susanna Moore that uses themes from the fairy tale. Set in Hawaii, if I'm remembering correctly.
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Lisa
Jensen Aschbacher
Registered User
(10/11/04 12:40 pm)
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B&B viewpoints
This may not be helpful to the questioner as my book is not yet published, but I hope it illustrates how viewpoint can alter a story.
My novel, "Beast: A Love Story," is told from the POV of a third party, who observes Beast's wooing of Beauty with a somewhat jaundiced eye. My narrator, Lucie, is a former servant who gradually falls in love with Beast as he is and stuggles to subvert the courtship before Beauty gives in and releases Beast's handsome but less worthy former self. While the themes of love, transformation, and redemption remain the same, Lucie's POV tuns the wooing plot into more of a psychological suspense narrative as Lucie races against time to preserve the Beast she loves.
Also, I agree with Veronica (I think it was Veronica; please forgive
me if I've mixed up the posts in my tiny brain): I've always read
thar Cupid &
Psyche is considered the earliest version and literary prototype
of the Beauty & Beast tale. What's so fascinatng about this
and all fairy tales is the way the basic stories can be reimagined
& reinvented time & again and still feel fresh & relevant.
Lisa
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Helen
J Pilinovsky
Registered User
(10/14/04 9:46 am)
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Re: B&B viewpoints
Another recommendation would be _Bitter
Thorns_ (Pride Publications, 1990), by Chris Anne Wolfe, which
retells the Beauty and the Beast myth by casting it in gendered
terms: in this version, the "Beast" is condemned to solitude
for misbehavior as in the original; however, the Beast is a she,
and her "sin" lies in her sexual orientation. The conditions
of the curse are identical, and it makes for both an interesting
retelling, with relevant insights on issues of acceptance and intolerance.
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CRS
Unregistered User
(10/14/04 1:53 pm)
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beauty and the beast/cupid and psyche
Thanks to all for answering my question. Sorry it took me so long
to answer, I just needed to think out a way of framing it. I understand
that Cupid and
Psyche is an origin of Beauty and the Beast. From what I see
of certain plot similarities, that certainly makes sense. My confusion
stemmed from the fact that they seem to me to be about two different
things. I see the main thrust of Cupid and Psyche as being about
wifely submission. Psyche listens to her sister(s) (WOMANLY influence,
you notice) and disobeys her husband, resulting in a lot of heartache
and hardship. I suppose, since Cupid is a god, it could also be
seen as relating to the necessity of all humans obeying the gods.
On the other hand, while Beauty's broken promise nearly costs her everything, I see the main thrust of the story as involving the necessity of looking beyond appearence to discover who a person really is. It's about not allowing appearance to blur reality. Obviously, I'm going off Lang's version here, never having read the actual novel.
Can you discard everything but the most basic idea of a husband's uncertain identity and still have the same story? I could go into a thousand other disimilarities between the stories, but this difference in message is what I consider the crux of the issue.
Anyway, sorry to get so off topic, but so many people were answering my post I thought you at least deserved a follow-up.
--Cassia
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lisajensen
Unregistered User
(10/14/04 7:41 pm)
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B&B/Cupid & Psyche
It seems to me that Cupid
& Psyche is not so much about disobedience to a husband
or god as it is about Psyche (like Beauty) breaking faith with the
monster (or potential monster) bridegroom/suitor she loves. Psyche
is warned by her sisters that her husband must be a monster (a serpent,
I think) because he won't let her see him, while Beauty is persuaded
by her sisters to forget the time & not return to the suitor
everyone else sees only as a Beast.
It's the failure of both Psyche & Beauty to trust their intuition or follow their hearts—to let others' (false) perceptions color their judgement about their lovers—that causes all the problems. And in both cases, the worthy lover—the god Cupid and the transformed prince inside the Beast—is the reward witheld from the heroine until she learns to trust her heart. (Okay, Psyche stumbles a little in the home stretch.) But I think the essential message of both tales is fairly similar, despite the very dissimilar window dressings of the plots.
Lisa
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(10/15/04 3:31 am)
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Re: B&B/Cupid & Psyche
CRS writes: "My confusion stemmed from the fact that they
seem to me to be about two different things. I see the main thrust
of Cupid and Psyche as being about wifely submission. Psyche listens
to her sister(s) (WOMANLY influence, you notice) and disobeys her
husband, resulting in a lot of heartache and hardship. I suppose,
since Cupid is a god, it could also be seen as relating to the necessity
of all humans obeying the gods....On the other hand, while Beauty's
broken promise nearly costs her everything, I see the main thrust
of the story as involving the necessity of looking beyond appearence
to discover who a person really is. It's about not allowing appearance
to blur reality. Obviously, I'm going off Lang's version here, never
having read the actual novel."
I think it's a mistake to base assumptions about the theme of Beauty and the Beast entirely on the Lang version. The theme changed from version to version, depending on who was doing the telling, and the context of the society in which the tale was being re-told. In the original tale by Madame Villeneueve (which was a veiled critique of the forced marriages common among upper class girls of the day) the Beast is a genuine monster whose humanity must be reclaimed. Beauty's role in the process is to ascertain and follow the magical rules that will break the spell that binds him. (In this, she's guided by the advice of a good fairy; ie: an older, wiser woman.)
When D'Aulnoy shortened and re-wrote the tale, she began the change of emphasis that has become part of the tale ever since: the idea that the Beast only looks horrible, but is actually a good man underneath.
Here's a passage to this from an on-line article that looks at Cupid & Psyche, Beauty & the Beast and other Animal Bride and Bridegroom stories:
(www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrMarriedToMagic.html)
"In the 18th century Madame Villeneueve borrowed from the Animal Bridegroom tradition to create an original fairy tale that would become one of the best loved of all time: Beauty and the Beast. Villeneuve’s original narrative is over one hundred pages long, and is somewhat different in theme than the shorter version we know today. As Villeneuve’s story begins, Beauty’s destiny lies in the hands of her father, who gives her over to the Beast (to save his own life) and thus seals her fate. The Beast is a truly fiercesome figure, not a gentle soul disguised by fur – a creature lost to the human world that had once been his by birthright. The emphasis of this tale is on the transformation of the Beast, who must find his way back to the human sphere. He is a genuine monster, eventually reclaimed by civilité and magic.
"Sixteen years later Madame Leprince de Beaumont, a French woman working as a governess in England, shortened Villeneuve’s story and published this new version in a magazine for well-bred young ladies. She tailored her version for her audience, toning down its sensual imagery and implicit critique of forced marriages. She also pared away much unnecessary fat – the twisting subplots beloved by Villeneuve – to end up with a tale that was less adult and subversive, but also more direct and memorable. In the Leprince de Beaumont version (and subsequent retellings) the story becomes a didactic one. The emphasis shifts from the Beast’s need for transformation to the need of the heroine to change – she must learn to see beyond appearance and recognize the Beast as a good man before his transformation. With this shift, we see the story change from one of critique and rebellion to one of moral edification, aimed at younger and younger readers, as fairy tales slowly moved from adult salons to children’s nurseries. By the 19th century, the Beast’s monstrous shape is only a kind of costume that he wears -- he poses no genuine danger or sexual threat to Beauty in these children’s stories."
Edited by: Terri Windling at: 10/15/04 3:50 am
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Laura
McCaffrey
Registered User
(10/15/04 1:50 pm)
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Cupid and Psyche - East O Sun West O the Moon
Thanks to all for answering my question. Sorry it took me so long
to answer, I just needed to think out a way of framing it. I understand
that Cupid and
Psyche is an origin of Beauty and the Beast. From what I see
of certain plot similarities, that certainly makes sense. My confusion
stemmed from the fact that they seem to me to be about two different
things. I see the main thrust of Cupid and Psyche as being about
wifely submission. Psyche listens to her sister(s) (WOMANLY influence,
you notice) and disobeys her husband, resulting in a lot of heartache
and hardship. I suppose, since Cupid is a god, it could also be
seen as relating to the necessity of all humans obeying the gods.
Cupid and Psyche
also has evolved if you read the many varients of East
O the Sun West O the Moon. Obedience is a strong theme, as is
trust in one's spouse rather than one's birth family. However, sometimes
the father in the one who sends off the spouse/lover, by burning
his skin. The emphasis on obedience also varies from story to story,
as does how intrepid the heroine must be to save her husband/lover.
In some tales, she must follow the guidance of her husband/lover
absolutely. Other times, her generosity to those along the road
is more important, or her cleverness in tricking the false bride
or the false bride's mother at the stories' ends.
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CRS
Unregistered User
(10/18/04 12:03 pm)
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Thanks
Thanks again for the replies. The links between the stories and their evolution make much more sense now. I didn't realize that earlier versions of the story had the Beast be as "beastly" as his appearance. Does that mean Disney was actually returning to an earlier version of the story?!
--Cassia
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(10/18/04 11:16 pm)
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Re: Thanks
Disney changed so many elements of the original story's plot (particularly regarding the role of the father) that taken as a whole it's a very different tale.
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Elizabeth
Registered User
(10/19/04 2:25 pm)
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the original tale
Fascinating article, Terri. I have THE
GOLDEN BOOK OF FAIRY TALES, so I've read the Beaumont version.
But is there a decent translation of the original Madame Villeneueve
tale available?
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lisajensen
Unregistered User
(10/19/04 3:17 pm)
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Villeneuve's B&B
Elizabeth,
There's a highly readable 76-page translation of Villeneuve's rather
baroque version of the tale (complete with tangled destinies and
haughty fairies) in Jack Zipes' "Beauties,
Beasts & Enchantment: Classic French Fairy Tales."
Lisa
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